Gold prices jumped over 1.5 percent and silver streaked toward a 30-year high on Tuesday, as thin volume and bullish hopes for next year drove bullion above $1,400 an ounce for the first time in two weeks. "There's a little year-end rush to see if we can post some high numbers to mark the books against," said Fred Schoenstein, a trader at Heraeus Precious Metals Management in New York.
-- Silver surges toward 30-year high
"Volumes are very low so it doesn't take a lot to push it." After modest early gains, spot gold shot more than $20 an ounce higher in early US trade, closing up 1.57 percent at $1,406.75 an ounce, near the day's high. US gold futures for February delivery rose 1.64 percent, or $22.70, to $1,405.60. Trading volume picked up from Monday's lacklustre activity, with over 106,000 lots, still only about half the norm. Volumes were subdued by a British holiday and lack of official gold fixings.
Silver led the rally as it has for the past few months, with traders rushing to clamber on board one of the best-performing commodities this year. After pacing gold earlier, spot silver shot ahead, jumping 3.4 percent to $30.26 an ounce, nearing the 30-year high of $30.68 touched on December 7. Prices have surged nearly 80 percent this year versus gold's 28 percent rise. The gold-silver ratio, used to measure how many ounces of silver is used to buy an ounce of gold, slumped to a new 46-month low of 46.4, extending its steady decline since August. It has averaged about 63 over the past year, and dropped below 45 only twice in the past 25 years.